Stand up, fight back on International Workers Day 2016

May Day is our day. It is International Workers Day. It is a day that is all about us, working and oppressed people, and our fight for a better life. The wealthy, the powerful billionaire class that rules this country, wallow in luxury 365 days a year. On May Day, we say, “Enough!” We are tired of being held down, pushed around and sold out. We cannot accept things the way they are.

Washington DC – Verizon workers with Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 2336 were joined by IBEW union members to rally in downtown Washington, DC today, April 21. Around 100 workers picketed outside a Verizon store near the Metro Center train stop.

Cambridge, MA – Hundreds of Harvard University workers and students rallied in the middle of Harvard Yard on April 14, as dining service workers prepare to enter negotiations for a new union contract. The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents nearly 800 workers on Harvard’s campus. The rally focused on two key issues which are expected to loom large in negotiations with the university administration – health care and year-round work.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following April 14 statement from the World Federation of Trade Unions. WFTU International Solidarity with the workers of Verizon in the USA

New York, NY – Striking Verizon workers were out on picket line in force, April 13 in New York City. They are among the 40,000 workers who walked of the job this morning at 6:00 a.m. It is the largest U.S. strike in recent years.

Minneapolis, MN – Nearly 40,000 Verizon workers from Massachusetts to Virginia will go on strike at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 13 if an agreement is not reached by then. The Verizon strike will be by far the largest work stoppage in the country in recent years.

Miami, FL – Nidia Quintero, the leader of Colombia’s largest union of agricultural workers (FENSUAGRO), spoke to a crowd of 50 workers and activists at the South Florida AFL-CIO April 8. She came to speak in support of the peace process between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), taking place in Havana, Cuba. Quintero emphasized that a just and lasting peace is crucial for the Colombian labor movement to grow and flourish.

Chicago, IL – Trade unionists and solidarity activists gathered to hear Nidia Quintero, Secretary General of FENSUAGRO, speak at Chicago’s United Electrical hall on April 6. Quintero leads Colombia’s largest agricultural workers union and was in Chicago to attend the Labor Notes conference. She spoke about Colombian workers peasants and why international support for the peace process in Colombia is important.

Milwaukee, WI – One year after the so-called Right to Work law was imposed by the state government on Wisconsin workers, Dane County Judge William Foust overturned it April 8, stating it was unconstitutional.

Minneapolis, MN – University of Minnesota officials are investigating a suspected outbreak of the norovirus in Minneapolis campus residential halls, according to workers there. Boynton Heath Services, the medical provider for students at the University of Minnesota, provided a notice to students yesterday that warned of “reports of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, in students at Frontier Hall,” a dormitory on campus.